Six

Saturday we went to visit my sister. All of us went to the pool and spent a fun filled 2 hours before we had to make a special trip to the ER with our little Jessica. We were all out of the water with towels on getting ready to leave when I noticed Jessica wandering around by the other side of the pool. I called to have her come back. She followed instructions the first time(yeah!), however she decided to go up the stairs and over a bridge to get to us. On her way back down the metal stairs she fell. I personally didn't witness the fall, but apparently it was somewhere between 7 and 10 steps up and she rolled feet over head and back around to land head first on several steps before the pavement broke her fall. Being quite clumsy myself and a bit out of balance at the moment, Jason put David down and ran after her. My sister, the nurse, looked at it and knew instantly that she would need stitches. She made a few calls and found out which of the 2 hospitals in town was least busy and (after signing some paperwork at the pool) Jason, Lynnae, Jessica and I headed off to the ER. Dad, Cory and Andrea took charge of the other children. Thank you so much for your help!!!

We made sure that she didn't go to sleep on the way. She was a champ. We were given a bag of ice at the pool and when Jason put it on her brow he asked her if it was cold. She said, "yes, really cold. Cold as Ice." That got us all laughing. She is too cute.

Here is the cut before she was stitched up.

Just after the doctor finished putting in 6 stitches. The numbing process was the hardest. I thought I could be strong, however, when Jessica starting crying/whimpering I lost it. I made sure I was standing somewhere that she couldn't see me(because I was afraid I might cry), so once again Daddy had to be the hero. Thanks for always being strong for our kids, babe. As soon as that was over, she was great. No crying, just a few tense moments. We had people comment that they were impressed they could not hear her even in the next room.

Strong, brave 4-year-old.

Jessica is always good for a smile. 'Almost' under any circumstances.

Jessica thanking the Dr. for the good sewing work. He was really nice. He has 2 small children and has done MANY stitch jobs(including both of his children). His wife is pregnant with twins right now, he was very personable and made the ER trip as pleasant as could be. Thank you!

side note: I do think it will be interesting hearing people's reaction when we tell them that our 4-year-old is all bruised up because she "fell down the stairs". I surely hope that we don't get any CPS calls on us.